I am trying to watch the Open on TV, but for some reason the BBC feel the need to interpose some fool with an estuary accent, who has no apparent connection to the sport. We missed Tom Watson’s second to the second because this idiot was interviewing somebody from Celebrity Come Dancing.
It reminds me of the ruining of Panorama by populism, exemplified by it being fronted by the deeply unpleasant Jeremy Vine, who has also been introduced to election coverage, just in case we miss estuary accents there also.
If the BBC exists in a popular culture where current affairs must be explained not by intellectuals but by diamond geezers, and golf presented by unqualified chirpy chappies, it really no longer does anything that the private sector cannot do. It is time to close down BBC Television and abolish the license fee. Radio three, four and the World Service are genuine public services, and could be funded by a small sum from general taxation. A small grant from general taxation should be given to producers of highest quality TV drama. The rest of the populist rubbish should be cut adrift into the private sector, and 97% of the vastly expensive bureaucracy sacked.